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Mecrofiche 

Series. 


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Collection  de 
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Tschnical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniquas  at  bibliographiquas 


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n 


n 


n 


n 


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I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
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10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


12X 


16X 


20X 


26X 

30X 

24X 


28X 


32X 


I 

'tails 
I  du 
odjfier 
une 
mage 


rrata 
:o 


3elure, 
1  d 


3 


32X 


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1 

2 

3 

L'exemplaire  fiimi  fut  reproduit  grAce  d  ia 
g^nirositi  de: 

IVIedlcal  Library 
IMcGIII  University 
IVIontreal 

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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fllmage. 

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originaux  sont  fllmds  en  commengant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'Sllustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
dernlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie 
cas:  Ie  symbols  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE ',  Ie 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmte  d  des  taux  de  rMuction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  fiim«  i  partir 
do  Tangle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  i  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  ie  nombre 
d'images  nteessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

^\ 


Os\tr ,  ^vv  Ui\lU6l^« 


//, 


^fJ 


AN  ALABAMA  STUDENT 


BY 


WILLIAM  OSLER 


J 

^ 


BALTIMOHE 

THE   FRIEDENWALD  COMPANY 

1896 


V^^  i"^]  I'i 


THE 

OSLER  LIBRARY 

McGILL  UNIVERSITY 

MONTREAL 

Ace. 


Johns  Hopkins^  flotpital  flintorical  Club, 
January,  1895. 


I 


VN  ALABAMA  STUDENT 


BY 


WILLIAM  OSLER 


BALTIMORE 
THK    FRIEDENWALD  COMTANY 

1896 


[From  The  Johm  ffopkins  JTonpitiil  Uulletin,  Xo.  58.  January,  ISIHJ.J 


AN  ALABAMA  STUDENT. 


Chief  among  the  hard  sayings  of  the  Gospels  is  the  declara- 
tion, He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  or  son  or  daughter  more 
than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me.  Yet  the  spirit  that  made  possible 
its  acceptance,  and  which  is  responsible  for  Christianity  as  it 
is— or  rather,  perhaps,  as  it  was — is  the  same  which  in  all  ages 
has  compelled  men  to  follow  ideals,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
near  and  the  dear  ones  at  home.  In  varied  tones,  to  all,  at  one 
time  or  another,  the  call  comes :  to  one,  to  forsake  all  and  follow 
Him;  to  another,  to  scorn  delights  and  live  the  laborious  days 
of  a  student ;  to  the  third,  to  renounce  all  in  the  life  of  a 
Sunnyasi.  Many  are  the  wand-bearers,  few  are  the  mystics, 
as  the  old  Greek  has  it,  or,  in  the  words  which  we  know  better. 
Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen.  The  gifts  were  diversi- 
fied, but  the  same  spirit  animated  the  "  llamiug  heart  of  St. 
Theresa,"  the  patient  soul  of  Palissy  the  potter,  and  the 
mighty  intellect  of  John  Hunter. 

We  honor  those  who  respond  to  the  call ;  we  love  to  tell 
the  story  of  their  lives ;  and  while  feeling,  perhaps,  that  Ave 
could  not  have  been,  with  them,  faithful  unto  death,  yet  we 
recognize  in  the  power  of  their  example  the  leaven  which 
leavens  the  mass  of  seltishness  about  us.  These  "mystics"  and 
"chosen"  are  often  not  happy  men,  often  not  the  successful 
men.  They  see  of  the  travail  of  their  souls  and  are  not  satis- 
fied, and,  in  the  bitterness  of  the  thought  that  they  are  not 
better  than  their  fathers,  are  ready,  with  Elijah,  to  lie  down 
and  die. 


To-niglit  I  wish  to  tell  you  the  story  of  a  man  of  -whom  you 
have  never  heard,  whose  name  is  not  written  on  the  scroll  of 
fame,  but  of  one  who  heard  the  call  and  forsook  all  and  fol- 
lowed his  ideal. 

When  looking  over  the  literature  of  malarial  fevers  in  the 
South,  chance  threw  in  my  way  Fenner's  Sou /hern  Medical 
Reports,  \'ols.  T  and  II,  which  were  issued  in  IS-tD-no  and 
1850-51.  Among  many  articles  of  interest  I  Avas  particularly 
impressed  with  two  by  Dr.  eTohn  Y.  Bassett,  of  Iluntsville, 
Ala.,  in  whom  I  seemed  to  recognize  a  "likeness  to  the  wise 
below,"  a  "kindred  with  the  great  of  old."  I  wrote  to 
Huntsville  to  ascertain  what  had  become  of  Dr.  Bassett,  and 
my  correspondent  referred  me  to  his  daughter,  from  Avhom 
I  received  a  packet  of  letters  written  from  Paris  in  1830. 
I  have  her  permission  to  make  the  extracts  which  are  here 
given. 

By  temperament  or  conviction  there  are  a  few  men  in  every 
community  who  cannot  bow  to  the  Baals  of  the  society  about 
them,  and  who  stand  aloof,  in  thought  at  least,  from  the  com- 
mon herd.  Such  men  in  small  circles  tread  a  steep  and  thorny 
road,  and  of  such  in  all  ages  has  the  race  delighted  to  make 
its  martyrs.  The  letters  indicate  in  Dr.  Bassett  a  restless,  non- 
conforming spirit,  which  turned  aside  from  the  hollowness  and 
deceit  of  much  of  the  life  about  him.  As  a  student  he  had 
doubtless  felt  a  glow  of  enthusiasm  at  the  rapid  development 
of  the  science  of  medicine,  and  amid  the  worries  and  vexations 
of  a  country  practice  his  heart  burned  with  the  hope  of  some 
time  visiting  the  great  centres  of  learning.  As  the  years  passed, 
the  impulse  grew  more  and  more  urgent  to  go  forth  and  see 
the  great  minds  which  had  controlled  his  hours  of  study.  All 
students  ilocked  to  Paris  in  the  fourth  decade.  Nowhere  else 
was  the  pool  so  deeply  stirred,  and  Laennec,  Broussais,  Louis, 
Andral,  V^elpeau,  and  others  dominated  the  thoughts  of  the 
profession.  One  can  imagine  how  carefully  the  plan  was  laid, 
and  how  for  years  the  little  surplus  earnings  were  hoarded  for 
the   purpose.     But  the  trial  Avhich  demanded  the  greatest 


K^ 


i< 


courage  was  the  leaving  of  wife  and  children,  and  there  are 
passages  in  the  letters  which  indicate  that  the  struggle  was 
hard,  not  indeed  without  bitterness.  He  apologizes  frefjuently 
for  an  apparent  cruelty  in  leaving  them  for  the  sake  of  his 
profession  ;  and  the  neighbors  did  not  make  it  easier  for  the 
poor  wife,  whose  desertion  they  could  not  understand.  Jn  one 
of  the  letters  he  says,  'SSo  people  say  1  have  left  you  ?  Well, 
so  I  have,  and  you  ought  always  to  put  tlie  most  charitable 
construction  on  such  renuirks ;  the  same  i)eople  when  I  come 
back  will  possibly  say  I  have  returned.  Sometimes  remarks 
of  this  sort  are  made  carelessly,  as  men  tramp  upon  Avornis ; 
sometimes  from  wantonness,  as  boys  pull  off  the  wings  of  Hies 
anil  j)ierce  them  with  pins ;  sometimes  for  sport,  as  hunters 
shoot  inoffensive  creatures  that  are  of  no  service ;  sometimes 
for  spite,  as  we  kill  lleas;  sometimes  for  experiment,  as  i)hi- 
losophers  torture  dogs  ;  but  seldom  from  wickedness,  as  i)agans 
skin  saints,  and  as  Christians  skin  one  another."  And  in 
another  he  says,  "My  expressions  put  me  in  mind  of  a  sick 
man's  repentance.  I  know,  Isaphaena,  you  have  borne  much 
for  and  from  me,  and  you  will  have  to  do  so  again,  and  I  ho])e 
you  may  do  it  pleasantly;  and  if  it  is  any  gratification  to  you 
to  know,  you  have  a  husband  who  appreciates  your  conduct." 

The  letters  begin  from  Baltimore  in  the  last  week  of 
December,  1835.  He  had  lost  his  diploma,  for  he  applied  to 
Ur.  James  H.  Miller,  the  President  and  Professor  of  Anatomy 
of  the  Washington  Medical  College,  for  a  certificate,  which  is 
found  among  the  papers,  stating  that  he  is  a  regular  graduate 
of  tluit  institution,  but  not  mentioning  the  year. 

He  took  passage  by  the  Roscoe,  Capt.  Delano  in  command, 
bound  for  Liverpool.  He  sailed  on  Jan.  6th,  and  in  an  inter- 
esting letter  an  account  is  given  of  the  voyage.  They  reached 
the  English  Channel  on  the  2Gth.  A  glowing  description  is 
given  of  the  fine  way  in  which  the  passengers  lived  on  these 
packet-ships.  He  entreats  his  wife  to  feel  sure  that  all  would 
go  well,  though  she  might  not  hear  from  him  very  regularly, 
and  he  begs  her  in  all  matters  to  remember  his  motto,  "  Peace 


6 


on  earth  and  good  will  towards  men."  He  expresses  great 
anxiety  about  the  training  of  his  two  chiUlren,  and  bids  her 
not  to  spare  the  rod  if  necessary,  saying, «'  as  tlie  twig  is  bent 
the  tree  inclines." 

The  first  long  letter,  descriptive  of  Manchester,  York,  and 
Edinburgh,  is  illustrated  l)y  very  neat  little  sketches.  He 
Avas  very  much  impressed  with  York,  and  says  that  "  if  ever 
1  was  to  be  born  again  I  wouUl  like  it  to  be  ut  York." 

In  Edinburgh  he  visited  everything,  from  the  fifteen-story 
hovels  to  the  one-story  palaces.  He  gives  u  description  of 
some  graves  at  Leith  covered  with  iron  grates  and  locked  to 
keep  the  surgeons  out,  and  over  which  a  watch  was  kept  the 
entire  night.  He  was  enchanted  with  Edinburgh  in  all 
matters  except  one.  He  says,  "0  Scotland!  thou  land  o' 
cakes!  0  Edinburgh!  thou  city  of  learning,  thou  cluster 
of  palaces,  thou  city  with  suburbs  in  the  centre  and  precincts 
fit  for  the  residences  of  princes,  thou  modern  Athens!  whose 
candles  seem  to  emulate  the  stars  in  height,  if  not  in  lustre ! ! ! 
Could  you  not  invent  any  other  method  of  getting  your  coal 
out  of  the  mine  save  on  the  backs  of  females ! !  I !  It  is  a  fact 
that  there  are  women  Avhom  they  call  bearers,  whose  business 
it  is  to  carry  coal  out  of  the  pit." 

Pie  was  very  enthusiastic  about  the  museum  of  the  College 
of  Surgeons,  and  the  Infirmary,  where  he  witnessed  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Syme,  an  operation  by  ''  Mr.  Ferguson,  a  young 


surgeon 


From  Edinburgh  he  proceeded  to  Glasgow,  then  to  Belfast 
and  Dublin,  and  then  on  to  London,  where  he  spent  two  Aveeks, 
apparently  of  great  misery,  as  the  Aveather  Avas  atrocious.  He 
shook  the  mud  of  England  from  his  feet  at  Dover,  and 
departed,  hoping  never  to  be  soiled  Avith  it  again. 

He  took  a  through  passage  from  London  to  Paris  for  £1 
18s.,  and  he  gives  an  amusing  description  of  the  additional 
payments.  He  asked  the  master  of  the  hotel  to  give  him  some 
information  regarding  French  traveling,  and  got,  he  says,  a 
regular  English  account,  Johnsonian  Avithout  his  Avit.  "  They 


will  cheat  you  at  every  step;  they  will  rob  you;  they  will 
poison  you  with  dirt;  everything  is  filthy;  you  will  get  no 
mutton  or  beef,  and  nothing  but  sour  wine."  Then  he  says, 
"Though  T  paid  everything  in  London,  I  will  give  you  u  list 
of  the  little  extra  charges  on  the  road,  and  in  eight  out  of  ten 
cases  paid."  He  gives  an  itemized  ])ill  of  twenty-eight  extra 
charges  in  the  two  days  and  one  night  which  he  spent  in  the 
diligence.     One  of  his  items  was  for  walking  down  a  ladder, 

one  shilling,     lie  told  this  fellow  to  go  to  h and  jumped 

over  his  ladder.  "To  the  commissioner  of  one  of  the  hotels, 
for  seeing  that  nobody  cheated  you  but  himself,  six  shillings." 
"The  commissioner  of  the  diligence,  the  most  useless  of  all 
damned  rascals,  for  pestering  you  aiul  telling  lies,  1  shilling 
and  sixpence." 

He  reached  Paris  and  took  lodgings  in  the  Place  Pantlieon. 
He  writes,  "  I  am  now  in  the  very  region  of  Voltaire  and  i{ous- 
seau  ;  and  the  Pantheon,  in  which  one  set  of  bigots  deposited 
their  bodies,  from  whence  another  set  tore  their  bones,  raises 
its  classic  front  before  my  Avindow.  I  look  on  it  and  feel  I  am 
not  so  much  of  an  inlidel  as  Avhen  surrounded  by  (Christians." 

He  attached  himself  at  once  to  the  clinic  of  Velpeau  at  La 
Charite.  On  his  first  day  he  says  he  did  not  understand  more 
than  half  he  said,  but  he  understood  his  operations.  He  says 
there  was  a  gentleman  from  ^Mobile,  Mr.  Jewett,  who  had  been 
there  for  three  years.  Amfricans  were  not  scarce ;  there  Avere 
four  or  live  from  New  York,  tv^o  from  Baltimore,  and  several 
from  Boston  and  Philadelphia.  He  does  not  mention  their 
names,  but  it  is  pleasant  to  tlii:  k  he  may  have  attended  classes 
at  La  Pitie  Avith  BoAvditch,  Holmes,  Shattuck,  Gerhard  and 
Stille.  He  began  dissections  at  once ;  subjects  Avere  cheap — 
six  francs  apiece— and  he  secured  a  child  on  the  first  day  for 
forty  sous. 

Some  of  the  lectures  Avere  in  the  evening,  at  scA'en  o'clock,  and 
he  Avent  to  hear  M.  Helmagrande  on  midwifery.  He  says, 
"The  hospitals  here  are  conducted  on  the  most  liberal  terms  ; 
there  is  nothing  to  pay  but  for  the  private  courses,  and  the  fee 


8 


is  small  for  them.  The  facilities  for  the  study  of  midwifery 
are  astonishing ;  there  are  plenty  of  cases  always  on  hand,  and 
this  I  determined  to  profit  by."  In  a  letter  of  March  i6th  he 
mentions  his  daily  routine:  "I  get  up  in  the  morning  at  six 
o'clock  and  am  at  La  Oharite  by  seven,  follow  Velpeau  until 
eight,  see  him  operate  and  lecture  until  half  after  nine,  break- 
fast at  ten  at  a  cafe.  At  eleven  I  am  at  a  school  of  practical 
anatomy,  where  I  dissect  until  two.  Then  I  attend  a  class  of 
practical  surgery  until  three ;  then  hear  Broussais  and  Andral 
until  five;  then  dine.  At  seven  I  attend  Helmagrande's  class 
of  midwifery,  Avhich  lasis  until  nine ;  then  I  come  to  my  room 
and  read  or  write  until  eleven,  when  I  retire." 

He  waf=  much  impressed  by  the  opportunities  for  dissection, 
lu  his  letter  of  the  third  of  July  he  says:  "There  is  a  dis- 
secting school  at  Clamart  for  the  summer  on  a  most  extensive 
scale.  There  is  room  and  material  for  200  or  upwards,  though 
there  is  but  few  there  at  present;  this  place  was  provided  for 
the  inscribed  students  of  the  school,  and  they  get  their  sub- 
ject'! for  a  mere  trifle.  There  is  not  the  least  prejudice  exist- 
ing here  against  dissections ;  even  the  subjects  do  not  seem  to 
mind  it,  though  they  are  aware  of  their  fate,  for  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  dead  are  carried  to  the  I'Ecole  Pratique  or 
Clamart.  I  have  private  instruction  in  the  use  of  the  stetho- 
scope for  heart  complaints  in  La  Pi  tie.  The  other  day  an  old 
A>  Oman  bade  me  adieu  as  we  passed  her  bed  without  calling,  and 
I  stopped  to  ask  if  she  was  going  out.  Then  she  said  she  was 
going  to  Clamart,  and  that  we  might  meet  again." 

He  had  evidently  occupied  his  time  to  good  advantage,  as 
early  in  July  he  received  from  Velpeau  the  appointment  of 
externe  at  La  Charite.  He  says  in  his  letter  of  the  10th  of 
July  "  I  h^ve  a  piece  of  news  to  communicate  that  I  know 
will  gratify  yen ;  at  least  I  feel  very  much  gratified  myself. 
This  morning  I  received  the  appointment  of  externe  in  La 
Charite  under  Velpeau.  The  duties  of  an  externe  require 
him  to  be  at  the  hospital  at  six  o'clock,  answer  to  his  name, 
follow  the  surgeon  round  a  certain  number  of  beds,  attend  to 


9 


his  prescriptions,  and  to  dress  the  patients.  For  this  service 
we  receive  nothing,  and  for  this  privilege  we  pay  nothing; 
you  ought  to  be  gratified  at  this,  because  it  will  convince  you 
I  have  not  been  wasting  my  time.  I  was  on  the  eve  of 
starting  for  Switzerland,  and  was  only  waiting  to  witness  the 
celebrations  on  the  27th,  28th  and  29th;  but  when  this  offer 
was  made  me  I  did  what  I  have  been  doing  all  my  life — made 
another  sacrifice  for  my  profession,  and  determined  to  remain 
and  take  the  service.  I  have  not  been  more  gratified  since  I 
have  been  in  Europe  ;  it  is  a  real  benefit  and  came  unsolicited." 

He  was  very  much  impressed  by  the  incessant  industry  of 
the  French  physicians.  He  says:  "When  I  look  at  some  of 
the  medical  men  by  whom  I  am  surrounded,  it  makes  me 
blush  for  shame ;  old  men  daily  may  be  seen  mixing  their 
white  locks  with  boys,  aad  pursuing  their  profession  with  the 
ardor  of  youth.  There  is  not  a  solitary  great  man  in  France 
that  is  idle,  for  if  he  was,  that  moment  he  would  be  out- 
stripped ;  it  is  a  race,  and  there  are  none  so  far  ahead  that  they 
are  not  pressed  by  others ;  many  are  distanced,  it  is  true,  but 
there  are  none  allowed  to  walk  over  the  course.  Wicness 
Broussais,  lecturing  and  laboring  daily  to  sustain  himself, 
after  having  elevated  himself  to  the  pinnacle;  Lisfranc,  an  old 
bachelor  with  thousands,  who  after  making  his  daily  visit  and 
lei;on  for  ten  months  for  duty,  during-  the  vacation  of  two 
months  he  from  choice  gives  a  course  of  operations;  and  old 
Eollier  may  be  seen  daily  supporting  himself  from  bed-post  to 
bed-post  as  jolly  as  if  he  were  not  far  over  sixty.  Veipeau, 
from  a  poor  boy  without  money,  time,  education  or  friends, 
has  by  industry  made  himself  one  of  the  first  surgeons  in 
Europe." 

In  :  e  of  his  last  letters  there  is  this  interesting  note  about 
Broussais,  who  had  just  finished  his  course  on  phrenology: 
"  The  pupils  of  '3G  have  struck  off  his  head.  It  is  in  bronze, 
a  little  less  than  our  old  Washington  and  Franklin  in  wax. 
Broussais  is  a  genius,  and  when  he  entered  life  he  saw  that 
something  was  to  be  done,  or  rather  that  he  must  do  some- 


10 


good  old 


r  • 


thing,  and  he  seized  the  science  of  medicine  as  a 
doctor  would  a  bottle  of  lotion,  and  shook  it  manfully 
Prance,  Germany,  all  Europe,  parts  of  Asia,  and  America 
have  felt  the  agitation.  But  younger  men  also  feel  the  neces- 
sity of  doing  something,  and  they  are  now  endeavoring  to 
quiet  the  commotion  he  has  raised,  and  in  France  they  have 
measurably  succeeded.  AVhen  the  giant  dies  I  doubt  if  he 
will  find  a  successor — his  conquests,  like  Alexander's,  will  be 
divided  and  then  fall  into  insignificance.  He  fights  well  while 
in  the  ring  against  awful  odds,  for  the  truth  is  against  him, 
but  some  of  her  brightest  geniuses  he  has  put  to  rout  or 
silence.  Time  is  now  about  to  enter  the  field,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  will  place  a  splendid  monument  over  him,  to — prevent 
him  from  being  forgotten." 

"  I  am  glad  I  know  what  great  men  are.  I  am  glad  T  know 
of  what  they  are  made,  and  how  they  made  themselves  great, 
though  this  knowledge  has  broken  the  last  of  my  house- 
hold gods ;  yet  it  has  taken  away  the  flaming  swords  that  stood 
before  the  gates  of  this  Paradise,  where  may  still  be  seen  the 
track  of  the  serpent  and  of  the  devil  himself,  so  I  will  keep 
out  of  bad  company." 

Scattered  through  his  long,  often  closely-crossed  letters, 
there  are  here  and  there  some  choice  bits  which  indicate  the 
character  of  the  man.  For  months  he  did  not  hear  a  word 
from  home;  then  letters  came  at  long  intervals.  He  appar- 
ently had  been  re-reading  some  of  his  wife's  letters,  in  one 
of  which  she  had  been  reproaching  him  for  using  strong 
language.  He  says :  "  Isaphaena,  you  tell  me  to  break  myself 
of  swearing,  and  not  to  spend  my  time  about  different  profes- 
sions of  religion  ;  that  it  will  make  eneinies,  etc.  Xow  listen 
to  me  while  I  speak  +he  truth,  for  on  this  subject  you  know 
that  I  always  do  speak  what  I  think  is  true.  I  never  did  swear 
much,  and  I  have  quit  it  almost  entirely,  for  nobody  Avould 
understand  me,  and  it  would  be  useless  to  waste  breath  when 
I  know  I  can  put  it  to  a  better  use.  As  to  religion,  there  is 
not  much  here  of  any  kind,  and  I  assure  you  I  have  not  said 


•ir 


\ 


11 


-& 


\ 


ten  words  on  the  subject  since  I  left,  nor  do  I  expect  to ;  and 
here,  where  Voltaire,  Kousseau,  and  the  whole  constellation  of 
mighty-minded  men  lived  and  wrote  and  died,  I  feel — 
Isaphaena — not  so  much  an  infidel  as  when  at  home  surrounded 
by  church-going  people.  Why  is  this  ?  I  have  never  for  a 
moment  doubted  the  sincerity  of  my  immediate  friends,  but  at 
home  I  looked  into  the  evil  more  closely  than  the  good  eifects 
— there  I  saw  ignorance,  bigotry  and  deceit  ever  foremost; 
they  were  the  most  prominent,  therefore  the  most  likely  to  be 
seen.  Here  I  still  look  on  the  evil  side  and  find  it  terrible.  God 
save  me  from  a  country  loithout  religion,  and  from  a  government 
with  it — I  know  you  will  say  Amen  also  to  the  next  sentence 
— and  return  me  safe  to  a  country  with  religion  and  a  govern- 
ment without  it.  I  am  convinced  that  the  evils  of  infidelity 
are  worse  —ay,  much  worse — than  any  religion  whatever." 

"Had  I  the  talents  of  the  above-mentioned  men  I  would 
not  spend  it  as  they  did,  nor  would  they,  could  they  see  the 
effect  produced.  Their  object  was  good — to  correct  the  evils 
of  a  corrupt  priesthood — but  their  works  were  like  edged 
tools  given  to  children.  Human  nature  is  not  perfect,  and 
their  refined  and  perfected  systems  of  morals  will  not  apply, 
and  if  we  were  perfect  we  would  not  need  them.  I  speak  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness." 

He  evidently  was  of  St.  Paul's  opinion  with  reference  to  the 
subjection  of  the  wife.  He  says  in  one  place :  "  What  if  I 
have  spoken  cross  to  you,  scolded  at  you;  if  it  was  not  my 
duty  it  was  at  least  my  privilege,  and  T  expect  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  doing  it  again.  Are  we  not  told,  if  our  right  hand 
offends  to  cut  it  off,  etc.;  then  surely  if  our  better-half  offends 
we  ought  to  have  the  liberty  of  swearing  a  little." 

His  last  letter  is  from  Paris,  dated  October  16th,  and  he 
speaks  in  it  of  his  approaching  departure. 

I  have  no  information  as  to  the  date  of  his  return,  but  his 
intention  was,  he  states  frequently  in  his  letters,  to  be  back 
by  the  first  of  the  year,  so  that  after  this  date  he  probably 
resumed  practice  at  Huntsville. 


12 

The  two  papers  in  Fanner's  Southern  Medical  Reports  are 
the  only  ones  I  see  credited  to  him.  They  are  charmingly 
written  and  display  in  every  page  the  wise  physician;  wise 
not  only  with  the  wisdom  of  the  schools,  but  with  that  deeper 
knowledge  of  the  even-balanced  soul  "  who  saw  life  steadily 

and  saw  it  whole." 

The  Eeport  in  Vol.  I  deals  with  the  topography,  climate, 
and  diseases  of  Madison  County.  Dr.  Fenner  states  that  it 
was  accompanied  by  a  beautiful  map  drawn  by  the  author, 
and  a  large  number  of  valuable  statistics. 

In  an  historical  sketch  of  the  settlement  he  thus  depicts 
the  early  border  life:  "The  most  of  those  who  did  not  pro- 
cure homes  at  that  time,  belonged  to  a  class  who,  from  taste 
or  compulsion,  had  separated  themselves  from  the  whites,  to 
live  on  the  trail  of  the  Indians;  and  who,  like  tigers,  and 
Judases,  were  not  without  their  use  in  the  mysterious  economy 
of  nature.  They  surpassed  the  natives  in  physical  force  and 
in  genius,  and  equalled  them  in  ferocity.  They  had  the 
piratical  appetite  for  gain  natural  to  the  English  race,  which 
they  had  cultivated  among  the  whites,  and  they  readily 
acquired  the  Indian  taste  for  blood." 

"  Thus,  without  anv  particular  standard  of  morals  of  then- 
own,  and  having  fallen  out  with  that  which  restrained  their 
Christian  brethren,  they  found  their  interest  in  adopting  the 
ancient  one  of  Moses  and  of  the  savages  among  whom  they 
resided— 'An  eye  for  an  eye,'  and  'blood  for  blood '." 

"  These  men,  like  the  fabulous  Behemoth  that  lay  m  the 
reedy  fens  of  the  early  world,  drinking  up  the  abundant 
waters  and  eating  down  the  luxuriant  forests,  to  make  way 
for  civilization,  have  left  little  more  than  a  vague  tradition  of 
their  existence  and  exploits,  the  latter  of  which  has  been  so 
embellished  that  the  former  already  begins  to  be  doubted.' 

"Such  a  race  leave  but  short  records  of  their  diseases. 
Where  bloodshed  is  always  epidemic  and  every  man  his  own 
suro-eon,  the  few  that  recover  feel  grateful  to  none,  and  hang 
no  ^^otive  tablets 'on  the  natural  columns  of  their  forests ; 


13 


and  when  a  missionary  or  a  novc4ist  is  the  only  historian,  it 
would  puzzle  Hippocrates  himself  to  collate  the  cases ;  but, 
as  most  things,  as  well  as  lions,  track  the  earth  in  some 
manner  as  they  pass  over  it,  these  early  squatters  have  also 
made  their  mark." 

The  good  example  of  Dr.  Thomas  Fearn,  who  in  the  early 
days  of  the  regular  settlement  was  the  leader  of  the  profes- 
sion, is  well  drawn.  "The  influence  of  this  gentleman's 
reputation  upon  the  profession  was  favorable  to  the  residence 
of  thoroughbred  physicians  in  the  neighborhood,  many  of 
whom  he  had  been  directly  instrumental  in  educating;  another 
consequence  followed:  quackery  and  empiricism  abated. 
Although  quackery  is  indigenous  in  the  human  heart,  like 
thieving  and  lying,  and  always  will  exist,  yet  it  flourishes  in 
the  indirect  ratio  of  the  science  and  general  qualifications 
of  the  regular  part  of  the  profession.  When  regular,  and 
extensively  patronized  physicians,  armed  with  all  requisite 
diplomas  and  the  experience  of  years,  suffer  themselves  to 
grow  so  dull  in  diagnosis  as  to  bleed  a  typhoid  patient  half 
an  hour  before  death  in  the  evening,  that  they  had  been 
stimulating  through  the  day  ;  or  so  far  forget,  or  compromise 
the  dignity  of  their  high  calling,  as  to  practice  '  Mesmerism,' 
or  prescribe  '  Mother's  Relief '  to  a  parturient  woman,  men  of 
smaller  pretensions,  and  more  professional  pride,  or  better 
information,  should  not,  and  do  not  wonder  at  quackery 
springing  up  around  such  like  mushrooms  in  a  spring  morn- 
ing, where  a  fat  cow  has  lain  over  night  and  warmed  the  soil 
for  their  reception." 

Dr.  Fearn  is  credited  with  the  practice  of  giving  enormous 
doses  of  quinine  in  the  malarial  fevers.  Dr.  Bassett  mentions 
five  or  six  cases  of  night  blindness  caused  by  these  large  doses. 
Very  full  accounts  are  given  of  eindemics  of  scarlet  fever  and 
of  smallpox,  and  a  discussion  on  the  cold  water  treatment 
of  the  former  disease.  Dr.  Bassett  must  have  had  a  well- 
equipi)ed  library,  and  his  references  to  authors  both  old  and 
new  are  not  only    '  t  full,  but  most  appropriate.     "In  the 


14 

spring  of  1833  we  were  visited  by  the  scarlet  fever  in  its  most 
malignant  form ;  during  the  prevalence  of  this  epidemic  more 
than  fifty  infants  perished  in  liuntsville,  at  the  only  age  they 
are  not  an  annoyance  here.  I  treated  nine  bad  cases,  and  four 
terminated  fatally ;  I  lost  nearly  half  in  almost  every  instance. 
An  older  practitioner  was  called  in,  but  I  am  not  certain  that 
in  their  own  proper  practice  they  were  more  fortunate.  In 
more  than  one  instance  there  lay  more  than  one  dead  child  in 
the  same  house  at  the  same  time.  I  feel  certain  that  tliis  was 
a  most  malignant  disease;  but  I  do  not  feel  certain  that  in 
every  case  our  best  physicians  remembered  the  united  counsel 
of  Hippocrates  and  Ovid,  that  'nothmg  does  good  but  what 
may  also  hurt,'  and  which  should  never  be  lost  sight  of  by 
the  man  of  medicine." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  account  of  the  small- 
pox epidemic  of  1835 :  "  ^My  treatment  Avas  pretty  much  that 
laid  down  by  Dr.  Meade :  bleeding,  gentle  aperients,  cool  air, 
sub-acid  drinks,  mild  anodvnes  and  vitriolic  infusion  of  barks. 
Although  the  purgative  part  of  this  treatment  embroiled  the 
faculty  of  the  early  part  of  the  18th  century  to  such  a  degree 
that  the  like  has  not  been  heard  since  the  days  of  Guy  Patin 
and  Antimony — shaking  the  authority  even  of  the  celebrated 
triumvirate.  Mead,  Friend  and  Kadcliffe,  and  who,  on  their 
part,  embalmed  one  Dr.  Woodward  in  their  gall  and  handed 
him  down  to  posterity,  like  a  '  dried  preparation,'  as  a  speci- 
men of  the  folly  of  small  men  who  attempt  to  run  against 
'  the  throned  opinions  of  the  world '—and  a  proof  that  'polite 
literature  does  not  always  polish  its  possessors ' — yet  we  of 
liuntsville  were  too  willing  that  our  brethren  should  have  our 
cases,  to  question  each  other's  practice." 

Dr.  Bassett  states  that  among  the  30,000  inhabitants  of  the 
county,  thirty  physicians  practiced  who  were  paid  about 
$30,000  a  year,  "which,"  he  says,  "is  but  hread,  and  scarce  at 
that ";  and  when  we  contemplate  the  50  lbs.  calomel  and  1000 
ozs.  quinine  which  they  swallow,  it  reminds  one  of  Falstaff's 
bill  of  fare:  "But  one  half-penny  worth  of  bread  to  this 
intolerable  deal  of  sack." 


15 


There  is  a  very  clever  discussion  on  tlie,  at  that  time,  much 
debated  question  of  the  use  of  anaesthetics  in  labor.  The 
following  is  a  good  extract:  "It  is  truly  humiliating  to 
science  to  have  to  stop  and  rest  upon  her  course  until  the 
dullness  of  the  clergy  can  frame  an  excuse  for  an  obvious 
truth— to  see  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh, 
stopping  in  the  midst  of  his  labor,  to  chop  logic  by  the  way- 
side, like  a  monk  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  endeavor  to 
prove  a  truth  at  midday,  by  argument,  which  he  had  proven 
by  practice  in  the  morning,  and  thereby  running  at  least  a 
risk  of  losing  by  night  what  he  had  earned  tlirough  the  day. 
Let  us  examine  in  plain  English  his  new  translation  of  the 
Hebrew  authority  for  the  use  of  chloroform  and  see  if  in 
getting  one  dent  out  of  his  turtle's  egg,  he  does  not  put 
another  in." 

At  the  head  of  the  article  by  Dr.  Bassett  in  the  second 
volume  of  Fenner's  Eeports  stands  the  quotation,  "Celsus 
thought  it  better,  in  doubtful  cases,  to  try  a  doubtful  remedy, 
than  none  at  all ";  which  he  quotes  only  to  condemn  in  the 
following  vigorous  style:  "In  giving  my  individual  experi- 
ence and  opinions,  I  desire  to  censure  none.  In  such  cases 
the  best  informed  fear  the  most,  and  experience  but  renders 
us  charitable.  T  will  therefore  only  say  that  I  have  been 
fortunate,  in  my  own  practice,  in  reversing  the  aphorism  at 
the  head  of  this  article.  That  rule  of  practice  has  found  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  every  generation  of  both  doctors  and  patients, 
and  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  few  able  men  of  every  age 
that  have  opposed  it  have  warred  in  vain,— that  the  science  of 
French  expectancy,  and  the  quackery  of  German  homceopathy, 
have  alike  failed ;  dying  men  will  have  pills  and  parsons." 

"When  physicians  were  required,  by  public  opinion,  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  Hippocrates,  and  his  immediate  succes- 
sors, as  closely  as  Christians  now  profess  to  follow  the  com- 
mandments of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  they  claimed  a  right 
to  act  boldly  their  faith  in  these  authorities,  and  public 
opinion  sustained  them ;  and  however  difficult  the  task,  they 


16 


found  it  miicli  easier  to  understand  the  written  language  of 
ni]ipocrates  than  the  yet  more  obscure  teachings  of  Nature, 
between  which  and  his  followers  he  stood  an  infallible  inter- 
preter, making  her  mysteries  so  plain  that  wayfaring  men, 
though  fools,  could  not  err  therein.  Hippocrates  was  but  our 
fellow-servant,  and  we  are  but  ministers  of  Nature ;  our  Avholo 
art  consists  in  understanding  her  language  and  laws ;  our 
whole  practice,  in  obeying  her  mandates  :  if  we  do  not  under- 
stand them,  it  is  either  our  fault  or  misfortune;  to  act  as 
though  we  did  is  quackery.  Celsus  says,  this  bold  practice 
of  old,  fere  quos  ratio  non  restituit  ieniirifas  adjumtj  but 
shrewdly  remarks,  that  '  Physicians  of  this  sort  diet  other 
men's  patients  more  happily  than  their  own.'  I  doubt,  how- 
ever, if,  in  the  present  state  of  medicine,  a  thorough  physician 
is  ever,  in  any  stage  of  any  disease,  so  completely  without 
rational  education  as  to  be  thus  nonplussed,  and  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  dealing  a  blow  in  the  dark ;  where  there  are  no 
intelligible  indications,  it  is  clear  there  should  be  no  action." 
"  Then,  if  I  have  not  followed  the  advice  of  this  master,  it 
has  not  been  lightly  laid  aside ;  nor,  as  I  have  stated,  without 
precedent ;  and  if  I  have,  in  a  measure,  adopted  another  of 
his  rules,  to  make  food  physic  (optimum  vero  medicamentum 
est,  cibus  datus),  it  has  not  been  upon  his  mere  authority.  I 
revere  authority,  believing  with  the  royal  preacher,  that 
'whoso  breaketh  a  hedge,  a  serpent  shall  bite';  yet  I  rejoice 
that  its  fetters  are  broken  in  medicine — that  we  no  longer  are 
hedged  with  the  eternal  cry  of  '  Hippocrates  and  reason.'  But 
if,  in  getting  rid  of  the  authority  of  the  Ancients,  we  have 
discarded  the  example  of  their  labor  and  learning,  and  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  their  opinions,  it  is  easier  to  be  lamented  than 
corrected.  If  the  unthinking  part  of  the  profession  of  old, 
that  followed  authority,  and  '  on  the  first  day  of  a  fever 
loosened  the  belly,  on  the  next  opened  a  vein,  on  the  third 
gave  a  bolus,'  etc.,  are  now  represented  by  those  who  follow 
fashion,  and  give  calomel,  quinine  and  cod-liver  oil  every  day, 
we  have  but  changed  authority  for  fashion,  and  are  yet  in 


1 


bondage;  hut  fashion,  thongli  indoniitahle,  changes  with  the 
wind,  and  if  for  a  time  it  carries  the  small  craft,  the  weak  or 
designing  in  its  current,  it  soon  leaves  them  stranded,  as  land- 
marks, at  which  we  can  at  least  laugh,  without  fear  of  pro- 
fessional martyrdom." 

Rarely  has  the  credo  of  a  zealous  physician  been  more  beau- 
tifully expressed  than  in  the  following  words :  "  I  do  not  say 
that  the  study  of  nature,  human  and  comparative,  as  far  as  it 
relates  to  medicine,  is  an  easy  task  ;   let  any  one  undertake  a 
foreign  language,  and  when  he  thinks  he  has  mastered  it,  let 
him  go  into  its  native  country  and  attempt  to  use  it  among 
the  polite  and  well-informed ;  if  he  succeed,  let  him  go  among 
the  illiterate  and  rude,   where  slang  is   current;   into  the 
lunatic  asylum,  where  the  vernacular  is  babbled  in  broken 
sentences  through  the  mouth  of  an  idiot,  and  attempt  to 
understand  this ;   should  he  again  succeed  he  may  safely  say 
that  he  knows  that  language.     Let  him  then  set  down  and 
calculate  the  cost,  in   labor,  time  and  talent;   then   square 
this  amount  and  go  boldly  into  the  study  of  physiology;  and 
when  he  has  exhausted  his  programme,  he  will  find  himself 
humbly  knocking  at  the  door  of  the  temple,  and  it  will  be 
opened ;  for   diligence,  like   the  vinegar  of   Hannibal,   will 
make  a  way  through  frozen  Alps;   it  is  the  ^open  sesame'  of 
our  profession.     AVhen  he  is  satisfied  with  the  beautiful  pro- 
portions of  the  interior,  its  vast  and  varied  dimensions,  the 
intricate  and   astounding  action  of  its  machinery,  obeying 
laws  of  a  singular  stability,  whose  very  conflict  produces 
haxinony  under  the  government  of  secondary  laws — if  there 
be  anything  secondary  in  nature ! — when  he  is  satisfied  (and 
such  are  not  satisfied  until  informed),  he  will  be  led  to  his 
ultimate  object,  to  take  his  last  lessons  from  the  poor  and 
suffering,   the  fevered  and   phrenzied,  from  the   Jobs   and 
Lazaruses, — into  the  pest-houses   and  prisons,  and  here,  in 
these  magazines  of  misery  and  contagion,   these   Babels  of 
disease  and  sin,  he  must  not  only  take  up  his  abode,  but  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  his  Divine  Master,  he  must  love  to 
dwell  there ; — this  is  Pathology." 


18 


''  When  such  an  one  reenters  the  world,  he  is  a  physician  ; 
his  vast  hihors  have  not  only  taught  him  how  little  he  knows, 
but  that  he  knows  this  little  well.  Conscious  of  this  virtue, 
he  feels  no  necessity  of  trumpeting  his  professional  acquire- 
ments abroad,  but  with  becoming  modesty  and  true  dignity, 
Avhich  constitute  gennine  professional  pride,  he  leaves  this  to 
the  good  sense  of  his  fellow-citizens  to  discover." 

Dr.  Bassett  developed  tuberculosis,  and  the  last  letter  in 
the  budget  sent  to  me  was  dated  April  IGth,  1851,  from 
Florida,  whither  he  had  gone  in  search  of  health.  He  died 
November  :^d  of  the  same  year,  aged  46. 

To  a  friend  he  writes  on  the  date  of  April  5th :  "  This  world 
has  never  occupied  a  very  large  share  of  my  attention  or  love. 
I  have  asked  but  little  of  it,  and  got  but  little  of  what  I  asked. 
It  has  for  many  years  been  growing  less  and  less  in  my  view, 
like  a  receding  object  in  space ;  but  no  better  land  has  appeared 
to  my  longing  vision ;  what  lies  behind  me  has  become  insig- 
nificant, before  me  is  a  vast  interminable  void,  but  not  a 
cheerless  one,  as  it  is  full  of  pleasant  dreams  and  visions  and 
glorious  hopes.  I  have  covered  it  Avith  the  landscapes  of 
Claude,  and  peopled  it  with  the  martyrs  of  science,  the 
pioneers  of  truth,  the  hound-hunted  and  crucified  of  this 
world,  that  have  earned  and  then  asked  for  bread  and  received 
a  serpent — all  who  have  suffered  for  the  truth.  How  glorious 
it  is  to  contemplate  in  the  future  these  time-buffeted  at  rest, 
Avith  their  lacerated  feelings  soothed  as  mine  have  been  this 
day  by  the  tender  regard  your  wife  has  manifested  for  my 
future  Avell-being." 

The  saddest  lament  in  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes'  poems  is 
for  the  voiceless, 

"  for  those  who  never  sing, 
But  die  with  all  their  music  in  them." 

The  extracts  Avhich  I  have  read  shoAv  Dr.  Bassett  to  have 
])een  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  gifts,  but  he  was  among 
the  voiceless  of  the  profession.    Nowadays  environment,  the 


19 


opportunity  for  work,  the  skirts  of  happy  chance  carry  men  to 
the  summit.  To  those  restless  spirits  who  have  had  ambition 
without  opportunities,  and  ideals  not  realizable  in  the  world 
in  which  they  move,  the  story  of  his  life  may  be  a  solace.  I 
began  by  saying  that  I  would  tell  you  of  a  man  of  whom  you 
had  never  heard,  of  a  humble  student  from  a  little  town  in 
Alabama.  What  of  the  men  whom  he  revered,  and  for  whom 
in  1H3()  he  left  wife  and  children  ?  Are  they  better  known  to 
us?  To-day  scarcely  one  of  those  whom  he  mentions  touches 
us  with  any  firmness  from  the  past.  Of  a  majority  of  them 
it  may  be  said,  they  are  as  though  they  had  not  been. 
Vclpeau,  Andral,  Broussais,  the  great  teachers  Avhom  Bassett 
followed,  are  shadowy  forms  (almost  as  indistinct  as  the 
l)U})il),  dragged  out  to  the  daylight  by  some  laudator  tcmporis 
acti,  who  would  learn  philosophy  in  history.  To  have  striven, 
to  have  nuide  an  effort,  to  have  been  true  to  certain  ideals — 
these  alone  are  worth  the  struggle.  Now  and  again  in  a 
generation,  one  or  two  snatch  something  from  dull  oblivion; 
but  for  the  rest  of  us,  sixty  years — we,  too,  are  with  Bassett 
and  his  teachers — and 


"  no  one  asks 
Who  or  what  we  have  been, 
More  than  he  asks  what  waves, 
In  the  moonlit  solitudes  mild 
Of  tlie  midmost  ocean,  have  swelled, 
Foam'd  for  a  moment,  and  gone." 


